 An electric system kept the clock ticking during maintenance work |
After seven weeks of silence, London will soon again hear the famous bongs of Big Ben. The bell's chimes will be back in action from 1200 BST on Monday after almost two months of maintenance work, carried out every five years.
It included the replacement of bearings that sound the chimes on the hour and every quarter of an hour.
An alternative electric system has kept the clock ticking while the work was taking place.
On Saturday, the re-synchronisation of all the bells will take place, while the clock hands and weights will be reconnected later this weekend.
The clock earns its nickname from the 13.5-tonne bell that rings out the famous chimes.
It is named after Sir Benjamin Hall, the man who was Commissioner of Works when the bell was installed in 1859.
The maintenance programme has been carried out prior to the clock's 150th anniversary in 2009.
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